Yukon Kara

How exciting for you! I had my surgery done at the Puget Sound Surgical Centre just outside of Seattle! What a great job you have done since your surgery too. We do have really close numbers! I seem to be stuck right now in a horrible stall and nothing is getting me under 190! Driving me nuts!

I just had my first consult (via phone) with Dr. Katzen in California to start the process of having a lower body lift!

I had my sleeve surgery in Oct of 2011 and am down 125lbs now. I weight 194lbs and would like to get down another 25 before my body lift. I am planning for a November surgery date.

This will be difficult to coordinate because I will have so much travel to get there. I live in a remote community in the Yukon (next door to Alaska). Already I am dreading the trip home after the surgery because I am sure I am going to be incredibly uncomfortable! But I am pretty sure this will all be worth it!

Anyone else out there have surgery with Dr. Katzen? I would love to hear from you!

Kara

Such a change already! Great work!

Awesome!

I just hit 199 yesterday!!

Congratulations to you!

I put on a bearded hat and became a lumberjack! ahahahha

That is BRILLIANT! You started at the same weight I did. I'm now 228, so hoping to get to that 199 mark by the end of January (hope to get through Xmas without gaining!).

You are an inspiration! Keep up the fantastic work! WOOHOO!

Wow you are doing great!! Our weights and heights are almost the exact same as are our weight loss progress! I started slowing to about 5-6lbs a month by about month 7 out of surgery. But I am doing a lot to maintain/gain muscle mass, so my shape is changing a lot even with just those 5lbs a month. It is so amazing!

Keep up your great work!

Great job, Superman!

My boys are just 5 and nearly 4 and I didn't think they had even noticed until recently. My five year old told me just two days ago that my bum looked skinny (which is sure does after 120lbs! yehaww!) and he said he missed the old me. And I said but the old me couldn't chase you as fast, and he said that is why he misses the old me! Now that I can catch him when he runs it isn't as fun! ahahhaha

Your kids will be your biggest cheerleading group! You are doing this surgery so that you will be healthy and will live long enough to become and pain in their butt one day.

I love the dress!! Great work!

13 months later I have gone from 319 to 199!!! I never thought I would see a 1 on that scale every again! I want to scream it from the roof tops, but I live in a pretty remote northern community, so really it would just be the ravens and wolves hearing me yell, so I will yell it on here instead!

WAAHOOOOO FOR 199!!!

And here I am in my Halloween get up- I put on a bearded hat and am a woodsman! ahahhaha

Congratulations! It is so great to read about people keeping the weight off long term!

Congratulations on your success!! I have to say I love your arms!!

Oh the arms! ahahha They are bat wings that I am pretty sure I could use to fly away! They just hide well when I they are at my side!

Wow you have done a wonderful job in one year! I am almost three years post op. The only advice I can give is to keep with your regimen.... I have been stalled (with my weight) for a year and a half. However with exercise, I've gone down one size. I feel that it is very easy to "fall off the wagon", and that is why I haven't lost more weight. I have a small stomach and don't seem to use it in the right way by eating better foods. I only recently got the mindset to get my butt in proper gear!

I'm interested in learning from you how you decided that you need 1200 cal, 100 Protein, and 80 carbs? I would like to try that and see if it works, but I'm wondering how you came up with those numbers?

Hey there,

Those numbers were a guide given to me from my surgeon and nutritionist. The clinic I had my surgery at has great follow up care. My surgeon phones me once every three months to check in.

Good luck getting back on the wagon!

I haven't had surgery yet but you look great! Congratulations on this journey! One year. WOOHOO! are most days good? or bad? would you do it again if this was before your surgery? Just wanted to wish you all the best and thank you for posting!

Hi! Most days are definitely good. But I get into a funks from time to time. This has been the best decision I have ever made regarding my health! I have energy and feel amazing!

Hello Sleevers!

I wanted to share my one year photos and a bit on how I doing. I was sleeved October 19th of last year. My pre surgery diet took me from 319 to 308lbs for my surgery. I am now 200.5lbs. I am eating around 1200 calories a day with a Protein goal of 100 grams and under 80g of carbs.

I am quite active now and walk between 2 and 5km a day as well I play squash three times a week. Now that winter is here, I will get back to doing weight training and will be snowshoeing too!

It has definitely been a tough year learning how to manage my life without using food as a crutch. I have recieved help from a therapist and am usually have a book on the go about life after weight loss. My family and friends have been very supportive throughout this process.

So any advice for me as I head into year two? The sagging skin is definitely an issue. If anyone has had surgery, can you let me know at what point you had it?

My goal weight right now is 170lbs, so just 30lbs to go!

Hello! Just trying to find some where online to purchase some Shapewear. I live in a remote community in northern Canada, so heading into a store is not an option.

Thanks!

I would kill to have an in person support group as well. I live in a very remote community of just over 300 people in the Yukon Territory- no support groups here!!

But I am really good at keeping myself busy, so it hasn't been too bad.

Maype as the clinic that did your surgery if you can post a flyer there saying you are looking to meet other individuals in the same boat. Good luck!!

I do a lot of reading and sewing now to keep my hands busy and away from food.

See if there is an in-person support group for bariatric patients in your area that you could join. Time to build a new support system of like-minded people around you to keep you going on this journey.

HUGE victory for me today! I have been going to the gym doing strength training three times a week for the last month. Today during my five minute treadmill warm up I decided to try running on it. I have never run on a treadmill in my life. I was able to do 1.5 minutes of running, then walk for a minute and then I ran for another minute. I had a big grin on my face the entire time because I had seen this going around the internet the other week and I couldn't get it out of my head:

Thanks everyone!!

It was just a few degrees belowing freezing in the picture- so just hoodie weather for up here! ahahah

Now, to find a new profile picture for myself.

I started my pre-surgery diet on October 1st and was sleeved on October 19th. I started at 319lbs and was 308 at surgery. Today, I am now 252lbs and feeling amazing! I cannot imagine what life will be like in another 50lbs. I just had my four month sleeve anniversary and I think I am still in shock at how well this is all working out for me.

I have also celebrating four weeks of strength training at the gym three times a week! Plus I have been out to play squash with a friend twice this month. Amazing energy right now!

I am taking in 900 calories a day. My focus is on Protein mainly through natural sources other than one Protein Drink first thing in the morning. I take in 80 grams of Protein a day and try and keep my carbohyrdates healthy and low. Three meals a day with two Snacks and rarely do I eat after my supper in the evening.

Life with a sleeve is great!

Here I am the day before surgery at 308lbs:

And here I am this weekend at 252lbs:

Wowweeeee!

I started my pre-surgery diet on October 1st and lost 11lbs and then had my sleeve on the 19th. So it has been four months since I started this overall process and I have lost a total of 60lbs!

I have to say I am a kind of flabbergasted! When you diet your entire life (okay, I am only 32, but that is still a lot of diets!) it is shocking to see something work.

The part I have been lax on has been the exercise. I walk most days for 1km and tow my two boys on a sled behind me (we live in the Yukon- lots of snow and cold), but that has been the extent of my exercise. Until yesterday! I went to the gym yesterday and am I ever sore today.

My goals for this month are to workout with weights three times a week, at home or at the gym, and to lose 15 more pounds for a total of 75lbs for the start of March. Lofty goals but I am a keener!

Anyone else out there have a great weight lifting routine that you want to share? I would love to hear it!

Same problems for me as well. It went on for six weeks and then we realized I was having intolerance issues with the Protein drinks. My body doesn't not do well on them at all! I have finally found some that work for me, but I focus now on getting my Protein needs met through my food.

Hang in there! It will improve.

It has been three months since my sleeve surgery! Wow time is flying. I have lost 44.5lbs since my surgery on October the 19th. That along with the weight I lost in the couple of weeks before the surgery brings my weight loss to 55.5lbs since October 1st. Wahooo!!

I am definitely going through a mourning stage right now. I miss food. I miss eating huge amount amounts of food. I miss hiding my feelings in a bag of chips or plate of lasagna. But it is empowering to feel these emotions and realize I can get through them without food.

It is going to be amazing to see where I will be in another three months!

Here I am in August at my heaviest of 319 and now at 263.5

The day before my surgery at 308 and now at 263.5